Ever since Xu Xingyu had brought a family doctor over to examine Xu Lingjing and put him on an IV drip, she had unilaterally decided that Xu Lingjing was a little dog meant to obey her every command.
After all, a man like him cared about his brain above all else.
Had she not called a doctor in time, his brain might have burned out from the fever.
And once a brain burns out, a person is pretty much finished.
So, in a way, she had saved his life.
In the human world, weren't debts of life repaid by serving like an ox or a horse?
Thus, Xingyu felt all the more justified in ordering Xu Lingjing around, completely convinced he would never resist. As for the embarrassment from the other day, she had already cast it to the back of her mind, dismissing it as a mere accident—just a temporary lapse in his mental stability.
When it came to homework, she refused to write a single word, leaving Xu Lingjing to do it for her.
When eating fruit, she insisted that Xu Lingjing peel it for her. If the flesh was damaged even slightly in the process, she would wrinkle her nose in disgust and refuse to eat it.
When lounging on the sofa watching television, she would prop her legs up on his lap and make Xu Lingjing massage them. The moment she felt sufficiently relaxed, Xingyu would turn hostile and refuse to acknowledge any favor.
Xu Lingjing bore every grievance without a single complaint. Xingyu thought nothing of it, considering it entirely natural; besides, she still detested Xu Lingjing with a passion.
This aversion ran deep—so deep that she had long forgotten the original reason she and he had fallen out. Every single time she laid eyes on him, her heart would ache with a heavy, stifling discomfort, and the blood surging through her veins would churn and crackle with the violent fury of sea waves.
Xingyu was a demon. She certainly wouldn't subscribe to the heavenly notion that endurance was the greatest virtue; whenever she was unhappy, she threw a temper tantrum at him.
He deserved it. That was her firm belief.
Yet, on occasion, Xingyu would switch up her tactics. She would hook a finger with a sweet smile, beckoning him closer. And once he obediently approached, she would grab his tie and force him to bend down.
Curious, she would lean in close to his eyes to gaze upon that calm, deep ocean of a gaze—one that held far more than its placid surface let on, fraught with hidden danger.
That gaze would tremble at her proximity, her breath, and her gaze—far more interesting than his usual, unruffled expression.
With her curiosity satisfied, Xingyu's foul temper would soften slightly.
Unconsciously, her fingers clutching his tie would tighten, her eyes narrowing in delight while her cheeks puffed out, making her look coquettish and sweet, much like a bad cat whose fur had just been stroked the right way.
Xingyu would even amuse herself by teasing him, using her fair, tender fingers to pinch his cheeks and pull them apart, forcing him into a pronounced yet utterly stiff upward curve before letting go and telling him to hold it.
Only to...
Tilt her head in appreciation for a moment before her expression would abruptly shift, her lips curving into a cold sneer. "You don't even know how to smile? Truly, how utterly boring. I despise cold, heartless people the most. Get lost."
Even after being put through such torment, Xu Lingjing fell for it time and again, that detached and reserved man quietly enduring the onslaught of her erratic moods.
Miguang could only watch in numbed silence.
Wait a minute. Had the Lord God been drugged by the demon? Why on earth was he obeying her every whim?
There were times when Miguang felt that anyone with even a shred of good temper would have lost it by now, yet the Lord God would merely gaze steadily at the demon for a moment, then lower his gaze and submit to her bullying.
How utterly tragic, sobbed...
*Clearly, it's just sheer stupidity!* Xingyu coolly evaluated.
Miguang shuddered. No, wait—he hadn't spoken out loud! How did the demon know what he was thinking?
Xingyu let out a cold laugh. *Because you're just as stupid as he is.*
Miguang: *......*
Xingyu said expressionlessly: *Being played with and humiliated by me is something he willingly consented to. It's not like I could necessarily beat him in a fight anyway; if he's trampled underfoot like this, it can only mean he's condoning it. The moment he resists, I'll stop bullying him...*
Miguang had a sudden flash of enlightenment. So that was how it was!
Guardian Angels had a habit of painting everyone in the rosiest of lights, and he remorsefully concluded that he had simply misunderstood the demon.
The demon had good intentions after all!
She bullied the Lord God surely to cultivate his rebellious spirit, ensuring the Lord God wouldn't be overwhelmed by the myriad fierce and complicated micro-worlds out there.
After all, if he could handle a fickle demon like her, what could those other monsters and demons possibly amount to?
Having figured it out, Miguang cheerfully fluttered his wings. *Oh! I understand now!*
*......*
He understood again?
*Then what if the Lord God does resist your bullying, Lord Demon? What would you do?* Miguang asked offhandedly.
Xingyu let out a hum of amusement. *Throw him away, of course. I already hated him to begin with; coming to the micro-world to accompany him through his Tribulation Transcendence was just so I could bully him! If he won't even let me bully him anymore, what else is there for me to do here? Sit around sulking? I'd definitely ditch him and go find someone more interesting to play with.*
*......*
The System wilted once more. Extreme excitement plunged into extreme despair, leaving him feeling much like someone who had been cheering joyfully on the riverbank only to slip and fall straight into the freezing winter river.
The air grew heavy... so heavy that he couldn't even flutter his wings.
The System had originally thought the demon held some affection for the Lord God—otherwise, why would she have agreed to accompany him through his Tribulation Transcendence? Yet he never imagined she had come to the micro-world purely out of sheer animosity toward the Lord God.
He felt it was all over...
If the demon ever found out about that matter, she would surely tear him to pieces.
* * *
The Lin Family.
Within the opulent European-style living room, the Lin couple and their son were seated around the dining table for dinner, the atmosphere exceptionally stagnant.
None of them spoke, and even the sound of chopsticks accidentally clinking against porcelain felt jarringly loud.
At that moment, Lin Minjue raised his head to look at his son, Lin Yanning. "How have things been between you and Xu Xingyu lately?"
Hearing that name, Lin Yanning instinctively frowned with aversion, though he quickly masked it, resuming the gentle and steady demeanor of a distinguished young gentleman.
"The school sports meeting has been going on recently, and the student union has been busy organizing it. I also just wrapped up a few department activities these past couple of days, so I haven't had the chance to find a proper time to reach out and build a rapport with her."
Madam Lin sighed. Advancing in age, fine lines were inevitably etched at the corners of her eyes despite meticulous upkeep.
In a solemn tone, she spoke to the son she was immensely proud of: "I know you don't like Xu Xingyu, and I don't like her either. She's dull and lazy, and for a young lady, she has a terribly sharp temper—if anyone says a single extra word to her, she'll snap right back with ten. How is that anything like a good woman? But her father is Xu Huaishen, and the Lin Family's family business simply cannot compare to theirs."
"In the last two years, policies have shifted dramatically, and we've had to compete with numerous rising enterprises. The Lin Group may look glamorous on the surface, but in reality, it's hanging by a thread. Which major corporation nowadays doesn't have a powerful backer supporting it? You don't want the foundation your father spent decades building to be destroyed overnight, do you?"
"Even just the scraps falling through the Lin Family's fingers would be more than enough to keep us well-fed, let alone if you manage to marry into theirs..." The rest of her sentence remained unsaid, but everyone at the table understood completely.
"Besides, once you take the reins in the future, you can remarry whatever kind of woman you please. Your mother and I certainly won't stop you."
Mr. Lin maintained a refined and amiable facade, even casually placing a piece of food on Lin Yanning's plate. Yet what his true stance was, everyone at the table knew all too well.
As someone who had once lived off his late father-in-law's estate, Lin Minjue was too embarrassed to voice such things himself. He was a successful man now, and those desperate, clawing days crawling up from the gutter were times he wished never to recall.
Madam Lin, however, could say it, because she was the unforgettable first love he had married after achieving success.
He played the good guy simply by keeping silent, while Madam Lin acted as his accomplice in wrongdoing.
Lin Yanning swallowed the green vegetables in his mouth and nodded earnestly. "Mom, I understand. As soon as I finish eating, I'll ask her out to hang out tomorrow."
Madam Lin smiled gently and picked up a piece of meat for him. "Good boy, eat some meat, don't just eat vegetables."